Seven London councils will share £10.2 million in extra income received from electricity generation at north London’s energy-from-waste facility in Edmonton, which is overseen by public body, North London Waste Authority (NLWA). The money will reduce the monthly cost of waste disposal and recycling that the councils – Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest – pay in FY 2023/24 .
The facility saw its income from power sales rise dramatically in 2022. The sale of recycling collected across north London also increased NLWA’s income due to strong market demand for recycled commodities.
NLWA Members approved issuing the windfall to the boroughs at an Authority meeting on 9 February. In November NLWA paid a dividend of £4.75 million to its boroughs.
NLWA warned that the government’s new Electricity Generator Levy could curtail future dividends to the boroughs from Edmonton’s energy-from-waste facility if energy prices remain unusually high during and after 2024. The Levy began on 1 January and it includes energy-from-waste facilities as well as fossil-fuel energy generators. NLWA would like to see publicly owned energy-from-waste facilities excluded from the tax.